There has heretofore been known a semiconductor light emitting element, such as a semiconductor laser element having a semiconductor laminate portion in which a stripe part is formed, and a semiconductor light emitting device including the semiconductor light emitting element (see Patent Literature 1). Patent Literature 1 discloses a semiconductor laser element having a stripe part for carrier injection, the stripe part being made of a semiconductor and including an optical guide layer and a cladding layer. In an uppermost layer of the stripe part, a p-side electrode is provided. This p-side electrode is electrically connected to a bonding wire through an extraction electrode. As a type of such a semiconductor light emitting element, there is a junction-down type having a stripe part side connected to a submount.
A semiconductor light emitting element 100 of junction-down type shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 includes a substrate 101, a semiconductor laminate portion 102, an insulating film 103, a wire-bonded n-side electrode 104 and a bonding pad 105 die-bonded to a submount. The semiconductor laminate portion 102 is formed on the substrate 101 and has a stripe part 106 for allowing a current to flow only narrowly. The insulating film 103 is formed on the semiconductor laminate portion 102 and has an opening 103a so as to expose the stripe part 106. The n-side electrode 104 is formed so as to cover a back surface of the substrate 101. The bonding pad 105 also functions as a p-side electrode electrically connected to the stripe part 106. The bonding pad 105 is formed so as to cover the entire area of a surface of the insulating film 103.
In the semiconductor light emitting element 100 described above, when a voltage is applied between the n-side electrode 104 and the bonding pad 105, a current flows only in a lamination direction in the stripe part 106 and in the vicinity thereof. This causes the semiconductor laminate portion 102 to turn into a population inversion state, thereby causing stimulated emission. Consequently, light is emitted.